Family
A Laboratory of Taste and of Ideas; That's the New Role of a Normandy Family Home
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Alice Roca and Lital, Ange-Lino 11, Aliocha 5 years old, Simona 2 months old
Alice Roca knows how to make you really feel things. With her, cooking is not just about food. It’s a means of dreaming up on a daily basis different ways of creating, of thinking. Preparing a meal thus becomes a way of expressing oneself, of showing one’s feelings. Above all, of sharing! Via her blog Alice In Food, the ex-Parisian expresses her passion with fervour. That’s the only word for it, and perfectly in context. It excites your imagination. Developed even more actively since the move in 2016 to the childhood home of Lital, her partner, her project is constantly growing. Workshops, culinary events… As well as her weekly newsletter, packed full of delicious ideas, advice and suggestions for food-lovers (or for the simply curious), Alice is never short of inspiration, and puts real heart into what she does. For four years now, the family has helped in its own way. How? Through a change of lifestyle. By moving to the Normandy countryside, the couple wanted to see their three children grow up, get closer to nature, and change their work habits, at the same time changing their consumer choices. A choice that has been justified. Completely fulfilled in their respective freelance activities (Alice is a stylist, Lital works in telecommunications) the two Mums have recently welcomed to their lives little Simona, just two months old when we visited. The fruit of their ever-growing love, like the fifteen or so fruit trees and the family veg plot that they hope will one day help them become self-sufficient.”A long road” according to this gastronome, who adds that she likes this relationship between time and nature. ” It’s not something that comes quickly; you have to observe, to wait…” A rural (and sensible) tour of a character building, brightened and modernised by the inspirational additions of its new inhabitants. The living kitchen takes centre stage while plants play the role of housemates in a happy jungle. Nothing urbane here!
Location
Normandie
Author
Caroline Balvay
Photographer
Valerio Geraci
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TSF
Alice, Lital: can you introduce yourselves, please?
Alice
I grew up in Toulouse, and I came to Paris to study fashion design at the Dupperré school. I lived and worked there for a long time as a fashion designer for top-of-the-range ready-to-wear brands, a job that I now do freelance from my home in Normandy. Lital also works as a freelancer in the telecom industry. She was born in this house and, like me, went to Paris to attend the Celsa school to work in communication.
TSF
Please tell us about how your life changed. Your move from the city to the countryside of Normandy. What was the trigger?
Alice
The idea took root when Lital’s mother put this house, where we used to spend our weekends, up for sale. LItal didn’t envisage life in Paris with the children. It’s true that it was with her that I discovered the idea and the happiness of getting out of Paris more often, and enjoying nature. The house had not yet found a buyer and one Sunday evening in the car on the way back to Paris, after a wonderful summer weekend spent in it, Lital said to me “we’re going to buy it”.It took us a while to make the decision. We even considered turning it into a restaurant with rooms to give us the courage to make the move. A year before we signed, we had planted our first fruit trees in the garden. Like a promise to take root here!
TSF
Lital, what is the story that links you to this house?
Lital
My parents bought it before I was born. I spent the first 17 years of my life here. After 12 years in Paris, although it wasn’t in the slightest bit premeditated, it didn’t seem strange at all to return and settle here again. This time, as a parent, it’s very different. Alice and I quickly reappropriated the house. Almost all the rooms have changed, but what remains above all is the astonishing energy that is here, it’s palpable.
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TSF
How have you arranged it to suit you and your three children?
Alice
We’ve streamlined it, lightened it up, added some colour. I removed lots of doors (from cupboards but also between rooms) to ventilate and open the spaces, and covered the very dull grey scraped lime with a bright white coating. We’ve enlarged the living room and now it’s a generously sized room. We transformed the kitchen, which was very rustic, by painting it in deep khaki. Upstairs there is “our wing” with our bedrooms, where we have added colour and wooden floors, as well as the “guest wing” which we haven’t renovated yet. Our teenager has just moved in there, following Simona’s birth. As I said before, we were quick to plant fruit trees (about fifteen in four years). We’ve added to the existing flowerbeds (my mother-in-law had green fingers) and created new ones. And then there’s the vegetable garden, which we already want to enlarge, and a permaculture mound. The garden is a space that we’re investing a lot in. We’re continually enriching it and adding our own favourites. We’ve even created a hen house, shared with two other families in the hamlet, for fresh eggs!
TSF
What sort of atmosphere did you want to create here?
Alice
Simple, warm, lively. Not too rustic even though you can’t totally avoid it! I like having contemporary elements. It’s a happy mix of contemporary things, antiques and found objects, works of art from our friends… and lots of plants! I have a lot of plants. I multiply them by taking cuttings. Every morning I go round them all. I look at how they’re doing, what’s grown, which flower has opened … there’s something new and wonderful of every day! I love the impact this show has on the garden in front of it.
TSF
Four years after your arrival here, what changes have you noticed in your daily life?
Alice
Our choice of life here is intimately linked to the desire to see our children grow up, to get closer to nature and to manage our work-life balance. I’ve always dreamed of working freelance, and choosing this life has given me the courage to make it come true. We feel much more connected to the earth and the sky. The seasons are very important and give rhythm to our lives. The garden calls to us differently in autumn and spring, and I am more sensitive to the cycles of the moon. In terms of consumption, we enjoy tasting our own produce! But we also have the pleasure of visiting the gardens of all the local producers we buy from. I was already sensitive to the seasonality of the products in Paris (besides I already did my Saturday shopping here in Verneuil when I came for the weekend) but here it’s even stronger and more apparent. And I quickly forged a very strong bond with my organic baker who became a friend. I owe my first sourdough to him, and he gave me lots of advice! The same goes for my neighbour, a former farmer, who helps me in the vegetable garden and shares his knowledge. This year, for the first time, we made cider with him!
TSF
Has this new life helped the launch (and development) of your blog, Alice In Food?
Alice
Yes! Already, working at home is allowing me to do things that require my presence (like taking care of my yeast or my kefir), organising my harvests (fruit, vegetables, flowers, seeds) and doing my transformations: dishes, bouquets, preserves, jams and so on. In Paris, I cooked mainly after work, late at night. Here I still do some “night cooking”, but I have the comfort of being able to work in my kitchen and garden during the day and then start my activities as a stylist in the evening. As a result, I’ve been able to enhance my blog. The idea is to share my family recipes, but also my everyday recipes – often plant-based – but also my “green” ideas that I practice. I draw my inspiration from what surrounds me: flowers, wild plants, the countryside. Every year I discover new plants, new places. I love this relationship with time and nature. It doesn’t happen immediately, you have to observe, to wait…
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TSF
Where does this visceral passion for food come from? Are your children susceptible to it too!
Alice
My mother always made everything at home, and it was very good. So I’ve had this culture since “forever”, but I don’t know what happened to get me so hooked on it as a discipline. As far back as I can remember, it’s true that I’ve always loved to eat and prepare food. Two anecdotes come to mind: when I was little, I hated being served children’s food. I always wanted to taste the adults’ food! I also have a kind of “culinary memory” that always impresses Lital: when I remember a place or an encounter, I always remember what I ate. It’s a bit like clothes, I always remember what people wore! It’s a kind of library of my tastes. I draw from everything I’ve tasted throughout my life, and above all, I have an insatiable culinary curiosity that ranges from salty to sweet, and from traditional French to the most exotic of dishes. My children love to eat. As kids, they always tasted everything quite happily. They were among those who delighted in eating spinach or courgettes, much to the astonishment of some of our friends. In winter, they eat all kinds of greens three times a week without complaining! My youngest son often helps me in the garden. He’s done his own vegetable garden, he’s planted flowers and vegetables, and he knows how to recognise them! To me it seems essential for me to pass on this taste to them. My eldest son – he can be very persuasive – may ask me for industrial products that he says he prefers to mine. But that’s just a bit of provocation, because behind my back I can hear him praising the merits of my homemade spread!
TSF
Which recipe books would you say we absolutely must read?
Alice
Claudia Roden’s book of Jewish cuisine, an indispensable classic. The Silver Spoon by Phaidon which is the basis of Italian cooking, with very simple recipes. Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (to name just one). A Modern Way to Cook by Anna Jones. It’s the only one by this vegetarian author that’s translated into French, but her latest, The Modern Cook’s Year, is great too! Finally, Faites Votre Pâtisserie by Lenôtre (an old reference book) and the entire collection of l’Epure Les 10 Façons de Préparer, each with one ingredient and ten recipes.
TSF
Which product you enjoy working with most?
Alice
Flours, there are so many of them! With a little water and salt, you can already make a thousand bread recipes.
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TSF
How do you see the future here?
Alice
I want to expand my vegetable garden and aim at self-sufficiency in vegetables (a long way to go), and to continue developing and renovating the house, especially the small outbuilding we own and that I would like to transform into a workshop. I also have plans to share and pass on my passions from the start of the school year with workshops at home to explore cooking and its multitude of techniques! And then create dinners or culinary events. I would also like, in my own way, to be able to commit myself to teaching children to discover tastes and good food.
TSF
Alice, do you have a summer recipe to make as a family, exclusively for readers of The Socialite Family?
Alice
With pleasure! Here is the recipe for Banoffee pie, reworked in my own way. It’s really great fun to make with the kids. I made it this weekend, and everyone loved it! It will take you two hours to prepare it if you make your own caramel. Otherwise, the rest of it can be done in 20 minutes. I’d advise you to let it cool down for at least two hours! For 6 to 8 people you will need: one packet of digestive biscuits from the UK selection in your supermarket (shortbread will also do, with a pinch of salt), 4 bananas, lemon juice, 1 tin of sweetened condensed milk or a jar of Dulce de Leche, 50 g of semi-salted butter, 200 g of good quality milk chocolate, 30 cl of chilled whipping cream and 50 g of pecan nuts. I like to make this dessert the day before, on the actual day I just add the whipped cream. To make the caramel: pierce a small hole in the tin of sweetened condensed milk put it in a pan of simmering water and let it boil very gently for two hours. It will turn into this famous milky caramel or Dulce de Leche. You can skip this step if you buy your Dulce de Leche ready-made. Preheat your oven to 180°. Arrange your pecans on a tray while the oven is preheating so that they roast gently. Crush the biscuits coarsely with a pestle in a large bowl. Melt the butter, mix it with the biscuit crumbs and press this mixture into the bottom of a 24 or 25 cm diameter mould with a removable base, or into individual circles. Place in the oven for 10 minutes until it turns golden brown. Don’t forget to take the pecans out are soon as they are coloured. Leave to cool.Cut bananas into slices and place them as you go along in a salad bowl with the lemon juice, to prevent them from turning black. Arrange them on the biscuit crumb base of the pie. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in a double boiler. Spread a layer of caramel over the bananas; everyone prefers a different amount. I put in as little as possible, about half the jar or tin, because I find it’s very sweet, but it adds a genuine touch that you can’t do without. Then run the chocolate over the caramel, add the roasted pecans, coarsely chopped (keep a handful for decoration), and then let it cool and harden in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight. Just before serving, whip the whipping cream without adding sugar (there is enough in everything else), spread it over the Banoffee pie, then sprinkle with a little cocoa and chopped roasted pecans. Remove the removable ring from the mould to serve.
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Alice and I quickly reappropriated the house. Almost all the rooms have changed, but what remains above all is the astonishing energy that is here, it's palpable.
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